


Mea Culpa

by anacharlie



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Gen, Metafiction, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-06-12
Updated: 2015-06-12
Packaged: 2018-04-04 00:56:45
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 1,458
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4120495
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/anacharlie/pseuds/anacharlie
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>While Quentin preferred to blame Oliver, whose fault was it really that Sara was on that damned boat?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Oliver

The second Moira Queen told them his baby girl was on that damned boat, Quentin Lance blamed Oliver. Years went by and he still blamed Oliver. What Quentin refused to acknowledge was that it wasn't solely Oliver's fault. **  
**

**\- It was Oliver's fault because he invited her**

Oliver was a lot of things - immature, irresponsible, spoiled, self-centered, to list a few - but he was not stupid. He knew what Laurel was doing. She wanted to move in together and it had nothing to do with the prospect of sex 24/7.

Laurel wanted to move in because she expected that within a year or two, there would be a diamond on her finger and that, in another year, she'd be going by Laurel Queen.

There wasn't an easy way to say "I do care about you, but we're never getting married". In fact, it was even worse: Oliver loved having fun. Laurel was fun when she wanted to, but she was often burried in books. How was Oliver supposed to have fun while living with his bookish girlfriend? It just wouldn't work.

Plus, she'd expect him to cook, do laundry, etc and Oliver couldn't even be bothered to pick up his wet towel. Oliver really liked it that he didn't have to be bothered to pick up his wet towel.

So he decided to deal with the whole issue in the best way possible: by completely avoiding it.

His dad was off to China, he could tag along. By the time he was back, things would have taken care of themselves and he'd be out of this mess.

Traveling by sea all the way to China would be boring, so Oliver figured he could invite Sara. She was great, and they'd had loads of fun.


	2. Sara

**\- It was Sara's fault because she agreed to go with him**

Sara loved Oliver.

Because love is acceptance and that was exactly what they had.

Sara accepted that Oliver was a spoiled playboy, that he didn't want to settle down, that his life philosophy was 'bad decisions make good stories', and that he wasn't really worried about the future.

And Oliver accepted pretty much the same about her.

But when Oliver invited her to come along on the Queen's Gambit, she hesitated.

Sara wanted to go to China.  
Days at sea with Oliver would be very much enjoyable. 

However, Laurel would definitely find out her little sister was sleeping with her boyfriend, and Laurel would be pissed.

Sara had tried to be a good sister. You know, _considering..._ Laurel had to be delusional if she honestly thought Oliver would move in together and marry her. Sara did try to warn Laurel that he wasn't the Prince Charming Laurel wanted to believe he was.

But Laurel ignored her. Because Dinah Laurel Lance was the Perfect Daughter and Sara was just the bitch.

So proving Laurel wrong became added bonus to the other reasons that prompted Sara's yes to Oliver's invitation.

Sure, Laurel would be pissed when she relized her boyfriend was screwing her sister, but everything would be fine eventually. Besides, it wasn't like Laurel was innocent or hadn't known what she was getting into when she began seeing Oliver.


	3. Moira

**\- It was Moira's fault because she had the explosives placed in the yatch**

Moira Queen had been in difficult positions before. For instance, whenever one of Robert's mistresses threatened to go public about the affair. Or the time Isabel Rochev got far too close to making a scene at the hospital when Robert left her to attend to Thea's broken arm. Or when Moira realized she was pregnant and tried her best to keep Malcolm from knowing Thea was the result of the one night they'd spent together.

However, this was surely something else. Moira knew she was sending Robert to his demise and of course that was not what she had wanted. To make matters worse, Ollie had decided to tag along. Moira desperately wanted to protect her son - both her children - but warning Ollie in anyway would make Robert suspicious, which in turn would endanger the plan and Moira did not want to find out what Malcolm would do in such case.

She hugged her son for the last time and hoped against all reason that he would somehow be spared of his fate and that Heavens would forgive her.

What sort of woman allowed her son to board a yacht set to explode under her orders?


	4. Malcolm

**\- It was Malcolm's fault because he needed Robert Queen dead**

He had come too far to allow anyone to ruin his plans.

Avenging Rebecca wasn't enough. Malcolm needed to know she hadn't died in vain.

He had already lost his son in this process. He couldn't - nor didn't - expect Tommy's forgiveness after the two years Malcolm disappeared to be trained by the League of Assassins.

Rebecca's blood called out for justice and now Malcolm had the tools to ensure it was made. The neighborhood Rebecca had worked so hard to better would finally be as she'd wished.

Unfortunately, it wasn't as clean of a job as Robert would have liked and he'd recently taken his eyes off the goal, threatening to bring everything tumbling down.

Malcolm couldn't have that. He wouldn't have that! The only solution was to remove Robert from the equation. Naturally, Moira had immediately objected, but conceded at the mention of Oliver and Thea's safety.

 


	5. Laurel

**\- It was Laurel's fault because she undermined any chance Sara could have had with Oliver**

Laurel knew the way Sara looked at Oliver. Because it was exactly the same way Laurel looked at Oliver.

It wasn't that Laurel couldn't get a guy like him. She had mirrors, she knew how she looked, and he had shown interest.

But Sara's love for fun - both legal and not so much - added a mischievous spark that Laurel's bookish ways couldn't compete.

So Laurel had to get Sara out of the picture. Temporarily. In a way, Laurel was even protecting Sara. Oliver was bound to be a bad influence on her sister. Laurel was basically immune to that aspect.

 


	6. Dinah

**\- It was Dinah's fault because she didn't stop Sara**

Dinah was surprised to see Sara home when she arrived from work. She was even more surprised when she noticed her daughter was packing. Quickly. And not an overnight bag either. By the size of it, Sara would be gone for days. A week, maybe more.

"With friends." was Sara's initial response when Dinah questioned her company, but Dinah didn't buy it. Her daughter was too good at poker to have her word taken.

  
"Oliver." Sara finally admitted after some pressuring.

Dinah knew her daughters were often at odds, but that was a whole new level of complication and family feud that would explode.  
"Laurel's Oliver?" Dinah asked, hoping against all odds.  
"He's not Laurel's." Sara quickly retorted.  
"He is Laurel's boyfriend." Dinah pointed out.  
"Ollie's Laurel's boyfriend because she plotted it." Sara accused "You know that!"  
"Even so, sweetheart, sleeping with her boyfriend just to antagonize -"  
"I love him." Sara interrupted "It's not about Laurel, it's about me."

Dinah swallowed hard, "Are you sure of that?"  
Sara nodded.  
"Absolutely sure?" Dinah questioned "Because if you're gonna ruin your relationship with Laurel, you'd better be sure."  
"I am, Mom. I love him, we make each other happy."

Dinah sighed, "Go."  
Sara smiled and hugged her, "Thanks."  
"I love you." Dinah held her tight for a moment.  
"I love you too." Sara smiled her brilliant smile.


	7. Quentin

**\- It was Quentin's fault because he taught her there were no consequences**

Quentin had tried his best to be a good parent.

He made a point of being very good at his job because it meant he was making Starling safer for his girls.

He had them learn self-defense, so they could take care of themselves. Laurel quickly became pretty good at it. Sara cut classes whenever she could, therefore his baby girl couldn't throw a punch.

He taught them to shoot. Eight out of ten times, Laurel could hit the center of the target. Sara hitting the target at all was cause for celebration.

Laurel was on her way to becoming a lawyer. Sara... well, she wasn't. Quentin had had things swept under the rug and had made charges disappear so his baby girl wouldn't have a record.

She was young, a little reckless, but Sara didn't deserve a permanent record for youth mistakes. He knew she was sorry, she'd apologized each time. Lowered her eyes saying she was sorry, looked up between her lashes asking if Quentin could ever forgive her. She was his baby girl, of course he'd forgive her. There was nothing Sara or Laurel could ever do that he wouldn't be able to forgive.


End file.
